


Above the Ether

by Tainted_Golden



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Dragonese (How to Train Your Dragon), Gen, Runaway Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-10-20 15:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20677691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tainted_Golden/pseuds/Tainted_Golden
Summary: When Astrid finds out about Toothless, Hiccup doesn't try to show her that dragons are good. He takes Toothless and leaves, believing that Vikings will never change. Five years later, a one legged man covered in scars flies to Berk on a dragon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really shouldn't be starting another fic while I have two on the go but I've already written this much so oh well. Don't expect regular updates, warnings may change.

"No!" Hiccup yelled, knocking Astrid's axe to the ground just as she prepared to swing at Toothless. "It's okay! It's ok." He said, holding up his hands placatingly. "She's a friend." He told Toothless, who snorted disbelievingly.

"You just scared him." He told Astrid.

"I scared him!? Who is 'him'?"

"Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid." He gestured at the human and dragon accordingly. Astrid was shaking her head in disgust, backing away from the pair. Finally, she turned and made a break for it.

"We're dead."

Toothless seemed to roll his eyes, turning to leave.

"Toothless, we need to get out of here. Man, I never even had the chance to pack," Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair, pacing anxiously. "We need to fly close to the village, so I can pick some stuff up, and then we need to go. We need to get as far away from here as we can." Hiccup started getting his saddle ready, Toothless finally realising that this was important.

Swinging quickly onto his friend's back, Hiccup urged the dragon towards the village. Toothless growled, hating the idea of going anywhere near it. Hiccup stroked a hand along his side.

"I know bud, but we've gotta be quick."

They landed almost directly behind Hiccup's house. Hiccup climbed up the wall and through his window, picking up some spare clothes and stuffing them into bags along with a few empty books. He couldn't help but take them. He made sure he had thicker clothes for the winter, because there's no way he'd survive without those. The only thing left was food. He dropped his bags out the window and scaled back down the wall. Securing them to Toothless, the pair flew silently over Berk, lighting down by the fish stores. Hiccup grabbed two of the big baskets of fish, tying those to Toothless's sides as well. The dragon grumbled, but he was more than capable of managing the load. Picking up a few tools and pots from the forge, they were finally ready to leave, just as light began to encroach on the cover of night.

And they were off, flying across the open sea and far beyond the shores of Berk. Toothless kept a slower pace, knowing he would need his energy for the journey ahead. As they left the island far behind, a strange noise caught Toothless's attention. His ear plates perked up, and Hiccup couldn't convince him to change course. Soon they were surrounded by hundreds of other dragons. Ahead of them, there was a thick fog rising from the sea. It engulfed them, and Hiccup was very aware that they wouldn't be so fast with the amount Toothless was carrying. Finally, a mountain cut through the fog. There was barely a shore around it before it towered from the ocean. Hiccup knew what it was.

He was about to enter the nest, and he wasn't sure he'd ever make it out.


	2. Chapter 2

Shouts rang out across Berk. A black dragon had been spotted, circling ominously above the island. Dragons were rarely seen near the village, and never stayed so purposefully close. But this dragon, of an unknown species, was slowly tracking downwards, gliding on wide wings without a sound.

As it drew closer, it grew ever more confusing. It had a white piece of fabric clutched in it's mouth, almost like a flag of surrender. Even as Vikings drew their weapons, it didn't change its course, swooping ever lower until, with two flaps of its great wings, it landed in the middle of the crowd.

Sitting astride the beast's back was a man, clad from head to toe in armour the likes of which Berk had never seen. It was black, the same black as the dragon, and crafted so exquisitely it would make any blacksmith green with envy. Every piece was fitted together with such precision that you'd be forgiven to think the man wearing it was some sort of dragon-human hybrid, with scales instead of skin. The only visible gap was a thin slit across the helmet for the eyes, and even that looked to be covered with glass.

The man dismounted in one fluid movement, keeping his left hand on the dragon's neck. Together, they began to walk in the direction of the great hall. The man walked with a limp , and the distinct step, click, step, click, of an amputee. But even the prosthetic that replaced his lower right leg was a unique design, metal and jointed, with a far smoother movement than a standard wooden peg leg.

Finally, just as the Vikings were almost ready to attack this unnatural dragon man, Stoick pushed through the crowd, holding a battle axe and blocking the way to the hall. He strode towards the intruders, full of the terrifying righteous fury that could stop any seasoned warrior in their tracks.

"State your name and purpose." He said, calmly. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. Nobody dared make a sound. There was a long moment of silence, the man and his dragon seemingly frozen.

"We come in peace." The man finally rasped, his voice a whisper, rough and growling and almost childlike all at once. Murmurs rose from the onlooking Berkians. They had expected something more fierce.

"And your name." Stoick demanded. This time, instead of answering, the man slowly raised his hand, pulling off his helmet. He had short, red-brown hair, cut messily as if with a hunting knife. His right eye was green, the left milky white and surrounded by deep scars. It took Stoick all of ten seconds before he recognised the unfamiliar figure before him. "Hiccup?"

The man's - no, the boy's face twitched briefly in what could be interpreted as an attempt at a smile. He looked away from the chief, turning his head so that he could see the dragon with his good eye.

"So it was true then. You really did befriend a dragon." Stoick said, not a question, but spoken in disbelief.

Hiccup nodded, looking up again. "I'm here to warn you. Berk is going to be under attack soon." He spoke awkwardly, like his tounge was used to making foreign sounds.

"What? By who?"

"I've made some enemies over the years. They found out who I used to be."

"I see. And you think they're coming to attack Berk?" Hiccup nodded, absentmindedly scratching his dragons neck. The massive beast let out a rumbling purr, leaning closer to the boy. Most of the crowd, who seemed to have forgotten the dragon was even there with how quiet and still it was, jumped back with fearful shouts.

The dragon responded with a growl, unfurling the wing closest to Hiccup in what could only be described as a protective gesture. Hiccup made an inhuman chirping sound, and the beast turned sharply, snarling at the boy, teeth inches from his neck. Hiccup snarled back, apparently unaware that a quick snap of those powerful jaws would be his death. Inexplicably, the dragon backed down, snorting before turning away from the boy, his tail swishing angrily.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't like Vikings."

"...Right. Perhaps it would be better to continue this in the great hall?"

"I'll return at dinner time, but I'm bringing Toothless with me."

"Toothless?" Stoick asked, bewildered at how a dragon with a mouth very clearly filled with teeth could be named Toothless.

"He can retract them." Hiccup explained, as if it couldn't be more obvious, before climbing back onto the beasts back. The dragon grumbled, clearly still not at all happy with his rider. Even so, he took off with one firm beat of his wings, carrying Hiccup away with him.


End file.
